Canopus Lake Beach — Attraction in Town of Kent

With the sharks and all, I've focused on lake beaches this year and tried two, Lake Welch in Harriman State Park and this one. For the most part, this one is superior, the only aspects of Welch I liked better is the water is a little cleaner with less "rock", "plant" and "seaweed" issues and they have lifeguards (which this beach had until 2019, not sure why they don't anymore, but it doesn't seem to affect enjoying this place).

What I liked better about this beach:

1. Less crowded (however, much smaller parking lot so come before noon on a nice summer weekend day otherwise there's a chance it will be full and you will not be let in)

2. Concessions area was much cheaper, both for food and things like sunblock or umbrellas.

3. Seemed more "family oriented", I'm sure the ban on loud music helps.

4. Option to rent rowboats and/or kayaks while at the beach itself, rates can't be beat ($25/day, cash only, but you start out paying $25 per boat, and if you use them less than 2 hours they will give you some of the money back when you turn it in). So you can easily do both boating and swimming the same day without walking/driving to another part of the park.

5. Changing area was significantly cleaner and included some larger changing areas with a personal shower.

Overall if you are OK with the calmer (i.e. no waves) lake beach experience, you should...

A Lake Taghkanic 2.0. Smaller, quieter, no life guard, free parking. There is a tiny cafe above the beach, but fair warning it closes two hours before the beach does.

If you want something less populated and quiet, this is the spot. Usually there aren’t a ton of kids here, biggest annoyance was a group at the bbq tables playing their music loud enough for the entire beach to hear. Just a note that if you want to play music, or bring kids, be courteous and keep the volume down. Many come here to escape and be at peace and if you come to disrupt that, it just sucks for everyone around you.

Anywho, there is also a trail behind the beach that takes you through the trees. It’s a nice feel to go from being at the beach to on a woodland hike within seconds.

Only issue is the lack of attendance. There isn’t anybody monitoring the beach so if anything goes wrong.. Also, there aren’t any garbage cans on the beach. So you have to walk all the way up to toss any trash.. leaving most people to litter..

Update: They have added trash cans. I truly believe all lake beaches should have one day per week for adults only. Kids are cool, but not all of us like to hear their screaming or encounter their splashing and the overall disruptance when all we want a nice day on the beach. Some of us only get one of these days a year.. I’d pay double....

Get rid of the lifeguards and bring back the fun! This was the best beach up until this summer. No music allowed on the beach. Kids aren't allowed to play with balls in the water. Can't have water guns. No yelling. No splashing each other. Just wade in the water. Fahnestock.....you are going to lose many beach goers this year with these new enforced rules from your 15 year old lifeguards that probably couldn't spot a drowning person if they tried since they're too busy making sure they're sucking the fun out of the children's lives. Alot of unhappy people on the beach today. Can't wait to find out what the other new "rules" are

Came back to add that they got rid of the grill that was actually great! And they upped the parking fee. So, less fun, no food available, no music allowed, Napoleon complex lifeguards, and they still upped the parking. What a shame. Hopefully next year they can get it together and reopen our beach how it was, and replace the young lifeguards with ACTUAL adult lifeguards....Power trip teenagers are terrible humans, and I highly doubt they can save a drowning person since they are too busy...